Padila By: Mark W Adams

Fiat justitia, ruat coelum.

"Let justice be done, though the heavens fall. -- Roman Maxim"

I really couldn't tell you if Jose Padila got a fair trial. Ultimately my respect for the jury system tips the balance in favor of believing the verdict of guilt was sound.

He may be sentenced to spend the rest of his days in jail, a decision wholly in keeping with the crimes he was found to have committed.

He should be immediately released, with an apology, plane fare, and a huge 7-figure check to deposit in the offshore bank of his choosing.

Why? John Cole answers this well.

Simply put, if they had enough to put him in a box forever, there never, ever was a need to "protect" us from him by torturing him to the point where he no longer is quite human.

Why you're an anti-American, xenophobic bed-wetter with no concept of what it means to live in a "free" country or appreciate the democratic principles America is supposed to stand for if you disagree with John and I? See Maha for enlightenment.

Why the sky is falling?

Even the Romans acted more civilized than how we treated Jose Padila. At least when they tortured someone, they admitted it, and set limits, eventually phasing it out as something only barbarians would commit because, "it forces even the innocent to lie." -- Seneca

England, from which we derived our legal traditions, never saw fit to justify such treatment. If our appellate system has any integrity whatsoever, it will not turn its back on what has always been a cornerstone of Anglo-American justice, the dignity of man.

They must overturn his conviction because ultimately we still stand for the proposition that no matter how despicable, every human being is entitled to be treated with humanity. We do not condone slavery, we do not burn suspected witches, and we do not allow our government to torture people. Period.